Less ice and more storms? This is the conclusion of a study published in Nature speak British National Oceanographic Center. Researchers analyzed satellite images and data weather reportweather report collected during the winter of 2023, when ice cover was particularly low compared to normal in Antarctica. This ice has also experienced a record low extent, with a deficit of 80% in certain regions. By June 2023, the total ice loss compared to normal was twice that of the previous record.
Seven more days of storms per month
The more the ice disappears, the more the ocean releases heatheat in the atmosphere. This airair hot weather disrupts the atmosphere and fuels storms. In some areas of the Southern Hemisphere, scientists recorded seven more stormy days per month (compared to normal) that winter. The greatest increase in storms, with ventvent violent therefore, occurred in the heart of winter in the Southern Hemisphere, in June and July, when the extent of the ice was at its lowest.
The ocean impacts the atmosphere, but what happens in the atmosphere also impacts the ocean: the increase in episodes of violent winds necessarily has consequences on the mixing of ocean waters, by further mixing the waters. cold and warm waters, but also by contributing more to breaking the ice on the surface.
